Frozen Time
by verveine
Summary: A huge accident leaves Soul with nothing but broken hands and shattered dreams. He decides to end his life for good, when the spirit of a dead girl visits him and changes everything. He can't possibly be falling in love with a ghost...can he? AU; - SxM
1. Offer

**F**_r_oz**e**_n_ Ti**m**_e_  
_by_: verveine

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater or any characters in Soul Eater. I do own my own story though.**

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**Chapter 1: **Offer

Nothing was really worth it anymore, the white-haired boy decided, as he stood there nonchalantly with a grim look on his face.

_Nothing._

"Hey, get off the intersection, you're going to seriously get hurt!" He heard a woman cry from her seat.

"Don't care," he replied back, not once looking up from his trance. Nothing was worth it, really.

"Well I care!" The woman snapped back. "If you die, you'll slow down the train."

"Aw, fuck you," Soul glared back. His velvety, scarlet eyes looked up at the woman in a menacing way.

She looked at him in absolute disgust, but said nothing back.

"_Fuck my life_," Soul sang in a rather dangerous tone of voice, as he crammed his broken hands inside the pockets of his leather jacket. The train rumbled as it made its course through the tracks, shaking vigorously, and threatening to take the life of the dull boy at any given moment. Just one slip, or an unexpected halt, and his life would be gone. Soul grinned a rather sick grin and looked up at the faces of horrified passengers through the small window. What would they know?

Those hands were everything to him; it was his _life_. He had spent years and years seasoning them to become a world-known pianist. He had dedicated all fifteen years of his life on the piano, playing since he was at the tiny age of two, and it all went down the drain in one single rainy night. He could still remember the voices of his horrified parents, the way their eyes filled with despair.

_"What do you mean it's completely damaged? I don't care if the bones are shattered, find a way to fix him!" _

_"Do you know how much money those hands are worth? We need those hands!" _

_"He's nothing without his hands, nothing!"_

_"Fine then. We don't need him anymore." _

They had abandoned him now- not physically, but mentally. He was worthless. They never really liked him in the first place, but this just nailed it. He was always an unwanted child, but they kept him because he had "talent."

Now he was just a burden.

He decided to be a good son until the end, and do them a favor by just killing himself. It was fine, nobody would miss him anyways.

The train took a steep turn, and everyone in the cart quickly got off. They no longer wanted to ride in a cart where a potential suicide was going to take place, especially since it was two in the morning.

He smirked, thinking how self-concerned people were. Nobody wanted to be a part of his psychological mess; nobody went out of their way to try to talk to him. Sadly, the one woman who dared to reach out to him was only doing it for her own benefit.

He closed his eyes, ready to free himself from the heavy binds of living when he heard a rather gentle voice speak.

"It's going to hurt you know," a rather melodic voice called out to him. He snapped his ruby eyes open, and they grew wider as he feasted upon a strange, transparent figure in front of him.

"W-Who are you?" He asked threateningly, his eyes never tearing off of her.

She _looked_ like a girl, but her whole body was shaded a bluish tone. Her hair was let down messily, and all she had on was a simple white dress. The intersection between two carts of a train are extremely small, but somehow they both managed to fit. She was a skimpy girl and her hollow eyes looked straight at his own eyes.

"Are you really going to kill yourself? It's going to hurt you know," she repeated, looking at him with blank eyes.

"I fucking asked who the hell you were," he growled, not answering her question. "Who the fuck are you and where did you come from?"

The girl looked at him briefly, before looking down at the train tracks.

"I wish I knew that myself," she admitted, as she slowly started to close her eyes. "I think and I think, but I can't seem to remember anything about my past. The only thing I remember is my name, Maka Albarn. Nothing else."

_Maka Albarn_? Somehow that name sounded extremely familiar, and a wave of nostalgia hit Soul hard. But this girl...he had never met her before, he was sure of it. Only her name rang a bell in his head, everything else- her face, her voice, her body- were new to him.

His chain of thoughts were interrupted by her preppy voice.

"But if you're talking about what I am _physically_, I'm a ghost. A spirit of a dead girl," Maka told him rather cheerfully.

_"What?_" Soul spit out, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the girl. He had no idea why he sounded so taken aback, especially since he had already realized this when he saw that she was a soft white color and delineated in light shades of blue. Oh, and she was _transparent_.

"You heard me, I'm a ghost," she singsonged. "I'm not sure, but I think I died quite recently. I don't even know why I'm here, still existing in the human world. All I know is that when a person with a lot of regret and unsettled matters dies, they can't peacefully ascend to the afterlife and they become a spirit, a ghost..."

"So you're saying that you had a bad past, and you're a ghost because you want a happier ending?" Soul scoffed at the ridiculous theory of it all. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're kind of _dead_. There's only so much a dead person can do, you know?"

"Well, you're certainly taking this morbid topic a lot more better than I thought you would," she shrugged. "Actually, I wouldn't know how people usually react since most people can't hear or see me. I'm surprised you can...maybe there was a link between us. Do you remember me at all?"

"No," Soul lied, tightening the fists in his hands. The girl- ghost, whatever she was, was seriously annoying him. Why did she have to come now and bother him with her crazy stories when he was just about to end everything? How was this situation even possible? Ghosts and spiritual things only happened in movies or books, not in real life. Yet...the very existence of the girl in front of him threw all logical reasoning out the window.

Maka's eyes caught the shaking fist in his hand.

"I can fix that you know," she told him, her eyes looking directly at hands. He widened his eyes.

"What?" He growled, as he hid his hands inside his pocket in insecurity.

"Your hand, it's broken. You were a promising pianist, but because of an accident you can't ever play at the fast pace you used to, making you an incompetent player," she retold his life story flatly, as if she was reading it straight out of an index card. The sound of his past pouring out of her mouth got the better of him, and he found himself punching the figure in front of him. His hands went right through her, however, and there was a bone-crunching sound that confirmed his already tattered hands were now officially useless.

"You should control your temper," her high-pitched voice scolded him. He resisted the urge to try to punch her once again.

"My hands are none of your business," he snarled. "How do you even know about them?"

"For some reason, I know a lot about you, Soul Eater Evans," she admitted. "I have no clue at all about my past except my name, yet I know just about everything about you. It's weird, to say in the least."

"What, were you my stalker when you were alive or something?" He sarcastically mocked.

"Let's hope my tastes weren't that..._drab_," she insulted back, folding her hands against her chest. "The point is, Soul Evans, I want to make a deal with you."

"What deal?" He asked her, although he couldn't say he was interested in the least.

"Help me find out more about my past, and help me fulfill all the regrets I have left in this world. Lead me to a peaceful, happy afterlife. In return, I'll fix those hands of yours," she offered.

"You're a ghost, not God," he rolled his doubtful eyes. "How the hell are you planning on fixing them?"

"Wishes," she simply answered. "When a ghost leaves to the afterlife, the person who guided them there gets to have one wish of theirs fulfilled. Whatever they want the most in their heart- their strongest wish- will be granted to them."

Soul simply scoffed at the explanation. "So there is no concrete proof that you will be able to keep your end of the deal?"

"No," Maka instantly replied back. "But it's better to take a chance than to die in the most cowardly way possible- like you are doing now- without ever becoming a somebody, isn't it?"

Soul scoffed some more, but her words plagued his mind.

"How will I?" The white haired boy started cautiously, after five minutes of silence, trying to make himself sound as uninterested as possible. "How will I be able to do that? We have no leads on who you are whatsoever, it could takes us months, years even, to find someone who knows of your past."

"My name is a big part of who I was, I know that for sure," she said with a determined look on her face. A thin layer of silence fell upon them, before her voice boldly broke through it. "Please...please help me," she whispered softly, as her eyes drifted downwards to the train tracks. The cheeriness in her voice was gone now, and instead it was filled with sorrow and hurt.

"It hurts," she continued, as she grabbed onto her chest. "It hurts every time I try to remember. My heart hurts, as if it's telling me _not_ to remember. That I _don't _want to remember. But how am I supposed to be free if I don't remember? I need someone to help me, I can't do this alone," Maka begged. "I can't do this alone."

Soul looked at her in disbelief and confusion. He tried hard to act as though he didn't care, but something in the girl's eyes were stirring up his emotions. They were filled with fear and panic and he, above all people, knew the true intensity of the feelings that were contained in those type of eyes. He had seen them numerous times before in a mirror- in his own reflection. He tried to repress the feeling of sympathy to the girl, but when her devastated eyes met with his hazy red ones, he heard his voice speak out before he could stop it.

"Fine, it's a deal. I find your past, and in return, you make sure that my hands will be fixed."

She looked up at him in shock, not believing that such a stubborn person would actually agree. Her melancholy expression faded away and instead, a wide grin spread across her small face.

"Thank you," she whispered out to him, as she touched the side of his face with her small hands. They felt cold and were completely lucid, but for some odd reason Soul felt his body warm up at her gentle touch.

Dying, he decided, would have to come another day.

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**A/N: Another long chapter story ._. I need to stop. **

**But this story has also been playing around in my head for a while, and the inspiration to actually write it down struck me today. Someone asked me why I was always killing off Soul, so this time I killed off Maka. C: ...Maybe that smiley is not really appropriate lol. I already know how I'll end this! Maka's past gets pretty complicated, but I know how it goes, so it's not going to take long to write (I think...I hope). Lol. **

**Please review! :x Because I kind of live off of them (overly exaggerated). No, but seriously, it really does make my day. xD **


	2. Smile

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update. :C I sort of really got into my other story, and I wrote like two extra chapters for that one instead of this one...rest assured, I'm halfway through the next chapter for this one. :D So it won't take as long! **

**Dedicated to:** macchi-chan, CatWhishkerrz, crazychick1313, Luminous Snow, Miyaow, GrossGirl18, Secret-Modsoul-A.K.A.-TTfanTT, DangoAndSouls, Aquatwin, FreeHugz767, Enthusiastic Reader, Sergeant Daniel, AliceUnknown, .Poisoned Scarlet., CookieTheif, soundofsoul42, Wanwan-san, ScytheMeister, Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan, miss. dramatikkkk

**Everything everyone said made me really, really happy. :) vvv**

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**Chapter 2: **Smile

"Soul," the pale figure whispered into his ears. "Don't go to sleep yet..."

"Ugh..." Soul grumbled, as he grabbed a nearby pillow and stuffed his ears with it in response. It had been only a few hours, and he was _already_ regretting that he agreed to the offer.

"But if you go to sleep I'm going to be so bored!" The girl whined, attempting to grab onto him. "I have nothing to do in the night, it's lonely and I'm bored."

"Then go to sleep," he drowsily answered, ignoring her wishes. It had been a long day, in fact, only six hours passed since he was about to commit suicide. For God's sake, couldn't this girl _shut up_?

"I don't need to go to sleep!" She protested. "In fact, even if I tried, I can't! My eyes close but I would just be lying there with closed eyes, I don't think ghosts can fall asleep."

"Shut...up...please..." Soul groaned, not throwing her even an ounce of pity. He wasn't even listening to half of what she was saying.

"No! Until you wake up and play with me," she stubbornly replied, demonstrating that she was serious by her nonstop chatter. "I mean, I would go outside and visit all these places but everything's closed by this time of day! Also, it's scary outside. I know, I know, I'm already dead, but-"

"SHUT UP!" Soul finally erupted. He sat up from his bed and flipped open his bright scarlet eyes in rage. Maka's eyes widen and her lips were suddenly tightly shut. She was about to say something about him having anger management problems, but the thought flew out the window when the door to his room burst open with no warning.

"_Soul?_" Maka heard a female's voice ask hesitantly. "When did you get here...?"

Soul's angered face quickly transformed into one mixed with annoyance and disgust...and something else she couldn't quite place her hands on. Maka noticed how he pursed his lips and clenched his jaw: it was fear. His face was also filled with fear.

Maka began to think it was weird that such a peaceful voice such as the woman's was able to derive such terror, when she heard a second voice. A voice much deeper, rougher, and _scarier_.

"Where the fuck were you all day?" The voice demanded to know. It was laced with disgust, and because it was dark, Maka couldn't see the face of the man very well. She could tell by his tone of voice towards Soul, however, that it had an expression of pure hate on it.

"Out." Soul stiffly replied, getting up from his bed and standing so he was face to face with who Maka assumed to be his parents.

"What? You mean out to commit suicide?" The man spat out. Maka saw that the woman standing beside him nudged at him lightly, warning him that the topic was fragile and should be handled with utmost care.

"What are you talking about?" Soul decided to play dumb.

"Don't try to twist your way out of this one," the older man growled. "Someone recognized you on the train today, I heard you were the crazy white haired kid ready to jump off. I have never been so_ embarrassed _my whole life," Maka cringed at Soul's face. The emotions running through it were indescribable. "Does the '_Evans_' name mean nothing to you? Do you ever think about us _at all_? It's bad enough you're _useless_, but now tainting the family name too? And what's up with you and doing everything half assed? If you were going to fucking kill yourself, you should have done so, not pretend like you were to get attention!"

Maka wanted to scream back at the man, the fact that he held such little value of life, but she found herself speechless and paralyzed with fear. His words were toxic, poisoning and tainting the soul of whoever heard them. Soul, also, lost the courage to retort anything back at him, and stood there idly with a blank look on his face. It was when his father threw a thick, yellow package in his hands that he came back to reality. Soul looked up at his mother, who nodded slowly with pain etched on her face, and ripped open the package. Soul briefly read through the contents.

"You're sending me to a boarding school for 'mentally distressed' kids? In other words, a fucking_ looney bin_?" Soul yelled in disbelief, his hands trembling. Maka stood quietly in the corner. She knew she had been long forgotten, but she still felt awkward being present in such a dramatic, personal family fight.

"Soul, don't make this hard for us," his mom begged, her bright scarlet eyes pleadingly looking up at her enraged son.

"Hard for you?" Soul cried. "You're sending me to fucking Nevada, for fuck's sake. _Nevada_. Nevada is fucking _two thousand_ miles away from New York, do you want to get rid of me _that _bad?"

"What else could we fucking do?" The man boomed, his voice as sharp as a knife. "Because of your fucking mistake, we can't even hold our head up! Do you even realize the extent of our shame?"

"Please," Soul heard the desperate cry of his mother. "Please, Soul, it's just temporary."

"If Wes was still alive, you wouldn't give me this much shit." Soul dangerously replied back, only to be interrupted by a huge blow to his face. It was a heavily guarded subject, and even the _mention _of said name was a sin. Maka didn't know how to react to such situation, and she rushed over to his side on impulse. Soul fell down to the ground hard, and stood back up, rubbing his jaw. Dark red blood trickled down the side of his bruised mouth.

"You're not fucking worthy of saying his name out-loud, how _dare _you?" The man deemed, his livid emotion portrayed through his large, trembling fists. The woman was silently weeping in the corner now, and her shoulders were shaking as though she was suffering from a terrible cold. "Have all your shit packed and ready for tomorrow, the flight is at five in the afternoon."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Ahem," Maka attempted to make a conversation with the boy next to her for what seemed like the millionth time. Her eyes wandered over to the silver-haired boy next to her. His eyes were closed, but she could tell that he was still awake by his irregular breathing patterns. "I know you're awake."

"Fuck off," was his reply. Short, simple, and to the point.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maka asked politely, knowing she was treading on dangerous grounds. But she thought about it, and seriously, how would he pose a threat to her? After all, she was already dead.

"I'll say it one more time: fuck off." He answered, his hands folded across his chest. They were currently on an airplane, flying across the country to a place called Death City in Nevada. Soul had seriously contemplated on killing himself right then and there, but the annoying, talkative spirit next to him followed him _everywhere_. She had exasperated him, like a fan chasing after his or her favorite movie star. The only time she gave him space was in the bathroom, and as upset as he was, he was _not _going to die in a bathroom.

"You're acting the same way you were when we first met," Maka pointed out, her face scrunching up at the acerbic memory.

"Look, I'm not going to talk to you right now," Soul growled in a low voice. "People are looking at me strangely. They obviously can't see you and they think I'm talking to myself." Maka looked around, and sure enough, a few passengers were giving Soul funny looks. Maka's mouth went in the shape of an "o," and she finally shut up.

The rest of the plane ride was relatively quiet, with the exception of Maka squealing whenever they crossed the border of two states. Soul found it hard to sleep with his mind clogged up with various thoughts, and once every few minutes, he subtly popped one of his eyes open and glanced over at the energetic spirit. Despite his hate for anything hyper, he found it greatly amusing to watch her overreact to the many sights below them.

When they arrived at Nevada, six gruesome hours later, Soul was automatically chauffeured and driven to the boarding school.

_Fucking father, always doing everything so clean and proficient_, Soul angrily thought to himself. He stared outside the window the whole ride, watching numerous flashy buildings pass by. At some point, all the flashy lights and neon signs were gone, and only empty, deserted land stretched out for miles and miles long. Soul darkly chuckled to himself at the location of his new "school" - they didn't want him to be _hidden_. They wanted him to fucking _disappear_.

"We're here," the driver stated, as he parked sleek black car in front of a huge building. Soul looked up, and immediately felt as though he went back in time when he saw the ancient architecture in front of him. It was a huge black building, shaped like a castle, complete with giant spikes poking through the sky. There were at least twenty staircases before the main entrance door, each staircase containing at least fifty steps. The sign, "Death City Shibusen Therapeutic Boarding School," was plastered in front of the school. The sign stood out like a sore thumb, as the font was a bright yellow in contrast to the dark ebony background of the building. It was pitch dark outside, but light escaped through the windows of the building, illuminating it along with the shimmering moon.

"Wow..." Maka breathed out in astonishment, her eyes staring widely at the gigantic school.

"Why don't they just name it what it is- a rehab center for the mentally ill. It looks like a death trap in there," Soul commented, grabbing his few suitcases that contained mostly musical items. "I can basically smell death hanging in the air."

"Maybe that's just me..." Maka solemnly answered, her eyes downcast.

Soul noticed the drop in her cheerful attitude and instantly replied, "No, it's the fucking school." Soul tiredly looked up at the endless stairs, and started to climb them when he saw a blue dot running towards him. He narrowed his eyes to get a clearer view of the unidentified blue blob. The speed of it, whatever it was, was incredible and it got closer and closer until-

"It's a fucking lunatic!" Soul determined, the blob now in the figure of a boy with spiky light blue hair and matching sky blue eyes. The boy came closer and closer to Soul, until he was only a feet away, and took out his hand.

"You're Soul Evans, aren't you?" The energetic boy said, more like a fact than a question.

Soul merely nodded his head, ignoring the hand sprawled out for him to take.

"I'm BLACK STAR!" He introduced himself rather loudly and showy, thumping his hands against his chest. "I'm your roommate!"

_"Great_." Soul sarcastically scoffed.

"How about you?" Black Star asked, turning face to face with Maka. "Who are you?"

Maka's eyes turned the shape of saucers, as did Soul's brilliant ruby ones.

"You can see her?" Soul asked in disbelief.

"You can see me...?" Maka repeated, equally as confused as Soul was.

"Uh, I'm not _blind_." The boy replied back, somewhat offended.

"But I'm a ghost, dead! How can you see me?" Maka wondered, her eyes glimmering in excitement. Soul rolled his eyes.

"I'm a GOD. I can see everything and anything!" He proudly told her. Soul shook his head. Was he really going to dorm with a _delusional_ kid who believed he was God? His thoughts were interrupted by the flamboyant boy's boisterous remarks. "Blonde hair doesn't match with your green eyes, you should dye it blue! Like mine! Blue, blue, blue!"

Maka giggled. "Okay!" She agreed, forgetting for the moment that she was a ghost, and the dye would just fall right through her.

"Wait," Soul stopped their little friendly conversation. "You can see what her colors are too? To me, she's pale, translucent, and a faded _blue_. I don't see blonde hair or green eyes!"

"What are you talking about?" Black Star asked in annoyance, putting his hands on his hips. His scarf hid his mouth, and he looked straight at Soul. "She's blonde with green eyes, how can you not see that? Not only are you boring and probably mentally unstable, you're colorblind too!

"I'm not colorblind!" Soul defended his claims angrily. "She's-"

"Wait! Soul!" Maka interrupted, going over to him and whispering into his ears. "Back when I was still alive, I did have blonde hair and an emerald green eye color."

"_What?_ How- how can he see you so clearly? You just look like a pale, bluish figure to _me_," Soul asked in confusion. "Shouldn't you look like that? Don't ghosts look like that usually?"

"Hm..." Maka thought about it closely, her eyes wandering back and forth from Soul to Black Star, who started to do jumping jacks in the middle of the stairs. "Maybe..." Maka started, but shook her head. "Never mind."

"What?" Soul encouraged her to finish.

"Well..." Maka uncertainly continued. "You know how this school is kind of for...um...well...not such..._sane _people?" Maka carefully chose her words. "Well, I was thinking. People who are on the brink of insanity are much closer to the spiritual world than regular humans, right? People with a lot of insanity inside them are also closer to the _spiritual _world than the _real _world so the more insane someone is, the more they can feel my_ presence_."

"So you're basically saying that my roommate is a complete _psycho_?" Soul watered down her intense line of reasoning.

"N-No!" Maka instantly dismissed the insult. "It's just a possibility! It might not even be insanity- maybe he has a very strong spiritual power contained in his body or something! Besides, I'm sure everyone has a good reason for their behaviors. No one is _crazy_, or _insane_- just _different_, due to the crushing binds and pressures of their own, unique life."

"Okay, Dr. Albarn," Soul shut her up, before she babbled on with her psychological philosophies. "It's eleven and I'm going to try to go to sleep. If I'm lucky, I'll die in it. Keep yourself busy by not bothering me, you've made a new friend so bother him instead."

"A new friend?" Maka looked over at Black Star, who was still doing his jumping jacks. "Hey, Black Star?" She called out.

He stopped for a split second and answered, "Yeah?"

"Are you my friend?"

"Of course!" He cheerfully replied. "I like you much more than that dreadfully dreary colorblind roommate of mine over there."

"Yay!" Maka smiled in happiness at the thought of obtaining a new friend. For some reason, the thought of getting a friend filled Maka with euphoria. Did she not have a lot of friends in the past...?

Soul continued to walk up the tedious stairs towards the school, in hopes of getting some much needed sleep. After ten steps, he turned around just once to see if Maka was following him- she wasn't.

Instead, she was brightly conversing with Black Star, who started to make funny hand movements. A pang of emptiness threatened to hit him, but he ignored it and instead concentrated on the look on her face.

It was a face filled with complete happiness and glee. Her whole being looked like it was drowning in rapture. In all the time he was with her- which shockingly wasn't that much, despite how long it felt- she never smiled _that_ brightly. A certain feeling started to rise up the core of Soul's body. What was it...? _Envy_? Soul ridiculed the thought away, although somewhere deep inside him, he knew he had hit the particular emotion spot on.

At one point, Maka started to laugh at something stupid Black Star said, and the chime of her laughter surrounded the empty night and for some reason soothed Soul. The stress that had piled up inside him washed away with her laughter.

He had the burning desire to hear more of it, but more than that, _he_ wanted to be the one who made her laugh like that; _he_ wanted to be the reason why there was such a dazzling smile on her face.

Yes, her smile was _dazzling_. It was absolutely enchanting. And as he continued to admire her beautiful, natural smile, new questions started to arise in his head.

Exactly who was she? What kind of person was she when she was alive? Was she always this happy, this cheerful? Did she smile a lot?

And most of all: how does that smile of hers- that heart stopping, chest pounding, gorgeous smile of hers- look like in _color_?

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**A/N: Good? Bad? Boring? Stupid? **

**Please review or I'll never know! :O vvv **

**A lot of new characters are introduced in the next chapter. Some will eventually grow to be very, very spiteful, while others will be uber loved. x) **


	3. Friend

**Dedicated to:** Ririsu Shiro Yuki Kori, ScytheMeister, inkie, crazychick1313, Mynameiseliza, Aku12, Luminous Snow, GrossGirl18, DeadlySereneGrace, Wrath lover, Aquatwin, Paper Flight, internetfeet, Eurwen de Vrill, Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan, CookieTheif, AliceUnknown, Secret-Modsoul-A.K.A.-TTfanTT, Enthusiastic Reader, macchi-chan, Mioroa, TheLastOne, Mouers, rebellexfleur, samm, && kale-FTW.

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**Chapter 3:** Friend

"Black Star," the girl whispered worriedly to said boy, her eyes flickering between the peacefully sleeping white haired boy and the super hyper blue haired boy next to her.

"What?" He asked, not noticing the fear in her voice. He grinned mischievously with a permanent marker in his hand, breathing as lightly as he could.

"I don't think this is such a bright idea," she admitted, glancing nervously at the clock. "It's three in the morning, if he wakes up now he'll be too tired to go to class...not only that, he's going to be super mad if he realizes his face was a substitute for paper."

"Nah, it'll be fine," the energetic boy reassured the blonde, opening the cap of the marker. Maka could have sworn that his eyes were star shaped the moment the black ink made contact with the pale, smooth white skin of the sleeping boy.

"Why are you doing this anyways?" Maka sighed, feeling sympathetic for Soul. He was going to embarrass himself the first day of his classes- a terrible start, especially as the new kid.

"Didn't you see him all last night?" Black Star replied back, in more annoyance than anger. "He was the one who basically _dumped _you onto me, and when he realized we were actually having fun, he tried to take you back."

"Well, we _did _make a promise with each other, so technically I should be around him." Maka reasoned, stifling a laughter in as Black Star drew a thick mustache on top of Soul's mouth.

"Bah, you boil it all down and it comes to one thing- he's an ass," Black Star deemed, now drawing spirals on each side of the oblivious white hair boy's cheeks. "He's being possessive over you without reason. So I could see you in color, big deal. He angrily stared at me all night, and it quickly transformed into a full-out heated glare when I told him I was an insomniac. Poor guy tried so hard to stay awake with us, but I guess he was just too tired. Oh well, serves him right."

Maka shook her head in disdain, but said nothing. There was nothing to be said, really. She was not someone who liked to point out flaws in others, but Soul was being quite the pain. He kept sputtering something about not hanging out with Black Star during the night, and to just force herself to fall asleep. Couldn't he just be happy for her? She finally found someone to talk to and hang out with at night so she wouldn't be lonely, what was up with the possessiveness?

"Ha! Done!" Black Star gloated happily, his face filled with glee. He pointed at Soul's drawn face, and Maka laughed uncontrollably hard. Black Star went overboard with the doodling; almost none of Soul's original features were visible. The black marker stains stuck out like a sore thumb, and Maka decided that the ends justified the means. After all, Soul was being rather rude to Black Star, Maka's _first_ friend. A little permanent marker couldn't hurt anyone...right?

Maka jumped, startled, when Black Star waved his hands through her face.

"Come on, the night is still young! Let's go play pranks on others," he suggested, the sly grin on his face not leaving once.

Maka contemplated upon his offer, looking at the sleeping Soul in worry.

"I don't want Soul to wake up all alone," Maka admitted, thinking that _someone_ had be there to calm him down when he woke up and saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I think he'll need all the support he can get, especially since it's the first day of class."

"Blasphemy!" Black Star boomed, causing Maka to jump up. Maka realized that Soul must have been completely wiped out, seeing how he was still in deep sleep despite Black Star's echoing, loud voice. "He's not a child, he can go to class by himself. Come on! We have a lot of stops to make!"

Maka hesitated, but instantly made up her mind to go with Black Star when he stated, "I'll show you a tour of the whole school. There are students in here that I'm positive would be able to see you too. You can make new friends!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Soul woke up three hours later in a rage; wrath so livid that his usual dull red eyes burned in a hot fury of murderous intent.

"Black Star," he hissed, looking at himself in the mirror. His face was scrubbed raw, and although the pitch black drawings weren't as bold anymore, the traces of it were still clearly visible. There were only fifteen minutes until his first class started, and neither the boy nor ghost were spotted. Soul grumbled to himself about self respect and personal space, when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"_Wha_t?" Soul rudely asked, slamming the door open expecting to see the blue haired boy and hollow blue figure.

Instead, a slender, tall girl stood in front of him, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her hands were still in the position she had left them when she knocked on the door, and she stuttered out, "Hi, my name is Tsubaki. You're new here, right? So am I! I'm a new assistant, and I'm here to make sure you get to class on time."

"You have _got _to be joking me," Soul scoffed at the ridiculously strict rules his new "school" had.

The girl weakly shook her head, as her stick-straight black hair that was tied back in a ponytail lightly slapped her back. "Nope. Please hurry and get ready, I'll escort you there."

Soul scowled, and replied with shutting the door on the lean girl's face. Tsubaki coughed at the awkward silence that ensued afterwards, and waited patiently for the silver haired boy to come out. Not only was he dirty- what was up with all that black crud on his face?- but he was insanely rude to boot. Had Tsubaki been a meaner person, she would have probably abandoned the boy right then and there, but Tsubaki was known for being a complete sweetheart. So she stood there, waiting quietly for Soul without saying a word or nagging him to hurry up.

Tsubaki waited for Soul for a whole fifteen minutes, and she deciding on whether to knock on the door once again or just keep waiting, when she heard voices coming down the hallway.

"I'm telling you Maka, when Stein wakes up he's going to have the surprise of his life!" An excited, overly hyper voice snickered.

"Oh, I don't know..." A gentler voice replied back in concern. "Are you sure it was a smart idea to put itching powder in his _underwear_? He is your teacher, after all."

"That's the point!" The boy voice excitedly started once again. "Serves him right for giving me a forty-five on my insanity evaluation exam!"

"I...I don't think that's his fault," the girl's voice got louder, and Tsubaki sensed that they were right around the corner. Tsubaki nervously glanced over to Soul's door, wondering if she should get inside the room for refuge- the last thing she wanted to be known for was eavesdropping, especially since this was her first day as an assistant. However, when Tsubaki tried to open the door, it was locked shut. Tsubaki was about to explain herself to the owner of the voices, when her mouth gaped open at the sight in front of her.

There was a boy with spiky blue hair jumping around, but that wasn't what caught her attention. It was the girl..._thing_ next to him.

"G-Ghost!" Tsubaki squealed, not believing the sight in front of her.

Both the boy and spirit stopped dead in their tracks, noticing for the first time that there was someone in the hallway besides them. They both had their mouths wide open- Maka because she couldn't believe she was visible to yet _another _person, and Black Star because, well, he had never seen someone so pretty in his life.

"You can see me?" Maka skeptically asked, not believing that so many people in this school was able to see her.

"Yes!" The black haired girl squealed once again, her hands clasped together in happiness. "I can't believe I _finally_ met a ghost!"

"...Huh?" Maka asked in absolute confusion, wondering what kind of illness- or type of insanity, to word it more nicely- the girl in front of her had. What kind of person goes hunting out for ghosts?

"Long story short, I came to volunteer at this school because I heard there were wandering spirits all around! I was worried that maybe it was just a rumor, but seeing you, all the hard work and training was worth it!" Tsubaki smiled widely, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "I can't believe it! An actual ghost!"

"...Huh?" Maka asked once again, even more confused than before. "You trained to work at this school so you could find a ghost? Why...?"

"Because!" Tsubaki explained, her hand slowly reaching out for Maka's hollow body. "I grew up in an environment where spirits and other non-worldly beings were welcome. All the females in my family are spirit mediums. I was the only girl in my family that was not able to communicate with the dead. But now I can- look at you! You're certainly a ghost and I can certainly see you! I'm not a failure after all!"

"Failure?" Black Star woke up from his daze, and startled both Tsubaki and Maka with his loud voice. "Who would dare call such a wonderful person a _failure_?"

Tsubaki half-smiled at the blue haired boy with a sheepish grin plastered on his face, and diverted her attention back to Maka.

"So Maka, can you come with me to-" Tsubaki was cut off from her question, by a sudden slam of the door.

"So there you are, you freaking asshole!" Soul angrily stated, looking directly at Black Star. Black Star gave him a lazy smile, showing his set of pearly whites. He folded his hands behind his back and gave Soul an unconcerned stare.

"Looking for me?" Black Star yawned, not moving from his spot. In fact, he wasn't even fazed by Soul's intimidating, menacing glare at all.

"I'll kill you!" Soul declared, Black Star's cocky attitude getting on his nerves. He ran down the hall after Black Star, wholeheartedly ready to beat the crap out of him.

"Wait!" Maka stopped the rapidly running Soul, standing in-between the small gap between Soul and Black Star.

"What?" Soul asked, his fist tightening.

"Don't hurt Black Star, he's my first friend," Maka defended Black Star, holding her hands out so Soul wouldn't touch him. Soul widened his brilliant ruby eyes in surprise, and stood there stunned for a minute. "Besides-"

"Forget it." Soul flatly stated, his voice monotone despite the raging emotions that burned at the pit of his chest. Soul walked away, not knowing where he was going in the slightest.

"Wait, you have to come with!" Tsubaki called after Soul from behind. She briefly touched Maka in awe once more, before she rapidly ran after the silver-haired boy. "I'll see you later Maka!" She promised.

"Wait, how about me?" Black Star called out-loud, wanting to follow after the raven haired girl. However, the girl was already way past hearing distance, and Black Star ended up slumping his shoulders warily. Maka noticed, and smiled coyly.

"You like her, don't you?" Maka knowingly grinned. She clasped her hands together, just like Tsubaki had moments before, and sighed at the romantic thought.

"Don't be foolish!" Black Star sputtered, turning red. "She just looks pretty, godlike figures such as myself don't fall for girls like her. Besides."

"Besides?" Maka encouraged him to complete his thoughts.

"Besides, it will never work. She's a sane person, just volunteering, and I'm in here because I'm apparently 'insane.' Why would she want someone like me? I don't even know her name!"

"Aw," Maka cooed at her friend's naive and innocent thoughts. "I don't think you're insane! Whoever put you in here is the crazy one."

"Yeah, yeah," Black Star sighed once more. "I'm glad you're trying to make me feel all better and crap, but shouldn't you be going after that annoying roommate of mine?"

"What do you mean?" Maka wondered, looking down at Black Star's torn face.

"I mean he looked mad depressed- even more depressed than he usually looks, if possible- when he saw you defending me. I think he's angry or something. It's best if you go comfort him."

"...Really?" Maka lowered her eyes at the thought of Soul's retreating figure. He did seem pretty upset...

"Yeah, you should go talk to him. I think he's offended by what you said."

"What I said?" Maka repeated, confused. She was expecting an answer or a clarification, but Black Star magically disappeared, and he was nowhere to be seen. Maka wandered around the floor in solitude, wondering what she could have said to Soul that might have offended him in any way possible.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka ended up waiting inside Soul and Black Star's room after three hours of searching for Soul around the school. She should have known better than to hopelessly wander around- the academy was gigantic and without even one clue on how Soul's schedule went, it was impossible to spot such a small person. She got lost about ten times around the maze-like building before she entirely gave up and went back to his room. It would be easier that way, she figured.

Maka waited in the room for another three hours, idly watching a television program in boredom when she heard a familiar clicking of the door. She perked up and was relieved to see the familiar silver hair come through the door. He looked displeased, and he still had light marker stains on his face.

"Hey," Maka started off the conversation. She played with her fingers nervously, and stared at Soul who didn't look up once.

"Hi," he flatly offered, tossing his bag carelessly on top of his bed where Maka sat.

"How was school?" Maka asked, wondering to herself if the conversation could be any stiffer.

"Fine," Soul answered, his voice as ambivalent as ever.

"Fine?"

"Fine."

Maka huffed, bothered by his one word replies. "Okay, spill it," Maka demanded, standing up to face his half-opened eyes. "Why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad," Soul lied.

"Yes you are!" Maka insisted, hovering in front of him. "What did I say that made you become so grouchy?"

"Nothing, can you stop bothering me?" Soul assured her, trying his best to avoid her intense glare. "Leave me alone, why don't you just go play with your _first_ friend?"

"What?" Maka asked, noticing the way he dragged the word "first." Maka stared at Soul, who was now cleaning his desk up, for five minutes without saying anything. She was deep in thought about what Soul had said, until she realized what Soul was truly mad about.

"Y...You," Maka informally addressed Soul, her concentrated face replaced by a humored one. "Are you mad at me because I protected Black Star and not you?"

"What?" Soul instantly replied back, as an extremely light blush spread across his features. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Aw, Soul!" Maka giggled, and if Soul had the ability to see her in color, he would have saw that her cheeks were a rosy red. "So that's why you were mad! If you had just listened to me before, and not cut me off, you would have heard the second part! I was going to say that not only would you be hurting Black Star if you punched him, your hand would break down even more. You forgot about how it's crushed already, didn't you? I was trying to stop you from messing it up even more than it already is, if anything. I just used Black Star as an excuse."

As soon as Soul heard Maka's explanation, an unknown feeling filled his body. What was it? Relief? Confidence? Or possibly...happiness?

"Whatever." Soul pretended as though he didn't care. "Why are you telling me this? I'm not even your friend."

Maka scrunched up her face at his claims, before the conversation in the hallway struck her once again.

_Don't hurt Black Star, he's my _**_first_**_ friend. _

"Oh..." Maka whispered, covering her mouth at the memory. "Then...does that mean...you actually consider me as a friend?" Maka asked, surprised.

"I don't know." Soul scoffed, his attention still on cleaning his desk. "What else would you be? My mom?"

"No!" Maka dismissed his claims, still taken aback from the words the came out of Soul. "I just...I just thought you thought of me as a burden, an annoyance tagging alongside you everywhere you go. I didn't think you considered me as a friend, so I just automatically said Black Star was my first friend..."

"Stop assuming," was his simple reply.

Maka beamed at Soul, who saw her smile at the corner of his eye but played it off as though he didn't notice it.

"Thank you, Soul." Maka gratefully said, causing Soul to blush a little darker than before. "Forget Black Star, you're my first and closest friend."

As soon as Maka said those words, Soul was positive he was going to feel much more relieved but when she had actually said it, he was still not satisfied.

_Friend_- somehow, that label seemed so unimportant, insignificant, and disgustingly irritating. He didn't know why, but he wanted something stronger_, much _stronger than that.

* * *

**A/N: Late chapter! I know! D: But I was in PA the whole weekend (which was when I was supposed to update). It was so much fun, I had an amazing time. :D **

**I know I said I was going to add a lot more characters in this chapter but I only added Tsubaki...somehow when I wrote it, everyone else sort of got cut off. The next chapter will have more characters though haha. Please review, it lightens up my mood greatly! vvv **


	4. Memories

**Dedicated to: **DeadlySereneGrace, GrossGirl18, MakaEvans95, Mouers, Aku12, Miyaow, Mynameiseliza, macchi-chan, .Poisoned Scarlet., AliceUnknown, Ririsu Shiro Yuki Kori, CookieTheif, yeaMen227, crazychick1313, Luminous Snow, ElricKeyblade, scaryneko, Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan, Better Than Waffles, Eurwen de Vrill, Klara2012zimdib, aviechan, GigixThexCat

* * *

**Chapter 3: **Memories

_When I die, I want to be reborn as a completely different person. I want to have a lot of friends and a brighter personality. I want to be free from this cage that I'm in...but more than anything, I want love that doesn't hurt this much. I can't take the intensity nor the pain. I...I- _

"Hey Maka...Maka?...Hey, _Maka_!"

"W-What?" Maka immediately looked up, to see an impatient white haired boy squinting at her.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, his eyes never leaving her hollow expression. "You've been spacing out all week."

"N-Nothing," Maka stammered, looking away from his piercing red eyes. What was that just now anyways? A dream? The words sounded strangely familiar- nostalgic even.

"Whatever," Soul dismissed, despite the fact that he was extremely curious as to why she was constantly zoning out on him. "Let's hurry and get going."

"Where are we headed?" Maka asked, in an attempt to start a new conversation.

"I have to go to some stupid meeting shit," he told her, glancing at the room number on top of each door they passed by.

"A meeting?"

"To see if I'm normal-level retard or Black Star-level retard," Soul snickered at his snide remark, holding onto the piece of paper with his printed schedule tightly.

"That's not nice," Maka frowned at him, but said no more. "I think it's important that you make a lot of friends, Soul. How about today, while we have the meeting, I help you talk to someone and socialize?" Maka's face brightened at the idea. "Yeah! I really think we should do that!"

"No." Soul instantly shot the idea down, much to Maka's dismay. "I hate communicating with people. Normal people are already bad enough, you want me to associate myself with these problematic kids? _Hell_ no."

"But you're here too!" Maka protested, giving him an indignant look. "Maybe others are thinking exactly what you're thinking, and that's why no one ever makes a friend!"

"What are you trying to say?" Soul narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be quick to judge!" Maka continued to lecture, despite his gradually narrowing eyes.

"And?" He urged her to continue.

"And...And I don't care what you say, you're going to make a friend today!" Maka decided, putting her hands on either side of her hips. "It's final! Mission make friend, initiate!"

"Mission? Initiate? Really Maka? Really? What are you, five?" Soul mockingly teased, as he saw Maka's determined expression turn to an extremely embarrassed one.

"S-Shut up!" Maka ordered, hurriedly walking far ahead of him in the empty hallway, missing his amused, crooked smile.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"So we have a new person joining us today!" The tall blonde woman, whom Soul assumed to be the evaluator, chirped. "Say hello to Soul Evans, everyone!"

The group, which consisted of six other kids that were around the same age as him, looked up at Soul and gave him a simple notion of recognition- a brief nod or a stiff smile.

"Why don't you say something about yourself Soul?" The blonde teacher suggested, looking up at him expectantly.

Soul tried his best to not glare at the annoying woman in front of him, and was about to do his best to refuse without sounding arrogant, when Maka's voice pierced through his thoughts.

"Hi, I'm Soul Evans!" Maka happily started, grinning at Soul's baffled, indignant stare. "I used to play the piano, but my hands got injured...no need to worry though! Why? Because I've met a _beautiful _girl named Maka and she's going to help me get all better! Maka is actually a ghost who lost all her memories. All she really remembers is that-"

"What the...what is _wrong_ with you?" Soul growled at Maka, interrupting her midway.

"What?" Maka shrugged. "I'm telling you what to say!"

"They want to know about _me_- all you are talking about is yourself!" Soul angrily whispered to Maka.

"It was an abridged version of your life, Soul!" Maka sighed, as if she was a mother trying to teach her child his alphabets. "Your life is boring anyways, so I thought maybe I'd skip all those parts and get to the interesting chapter of your life!"

"And the interesting chapter of my life being when I met you?" Soul scoffed, trying to hold back his laughter at how_ stupid _she was.

"Well...duh?" Maka confidently replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Admit it Soul, I can tell by your personality. You lived the most boring and dreary life anyone could ever hope _not_ to have."

"I lived a _classy_ life!" Soul protested, his voice rising at every word.

"Yeah, a classically _boring _one!" Maka argued back.

"Okay, then!" A voice interrupted Soul before he could counterattack Maka's argument. The teacher, whose eyes were glued on Soul, looked strangely at him for the past few minutes and started to rapidly write something on her clipboard. "Soul, do you have any hobbies you would like to share with us? You can tell me anything, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Soul snapped, glowering at Maka's triumphant look.

"I don't know...things you like to do to release bottled up stress?" The woman puckered her lips together and started twirling a few strands of her blonde hair in hesitation. "Some people like to knit, some people like to write, and some...some like to _talk to themselves_."

"_What?_" Soul asked in disbelief, reddening at the sight of a hysterically laughing Maka. "Shut up, you annoying ghost girl!" Soul shouted at Maka. "Yeah, I lived a pretty boring life. So what? At least I can still change it. You probably led a_ shitty _life and died in a _shitty_ way too. And guess what the best part is? You can't go and fix _that_."

Maka stopped laughing. She didn't bother to go after him as he stormed out of the meeting room, or bother to deal with the stunned faces of the teacher and each student questioningly staring at each other, wondering what had just occurred. She didn't even bother moving. She just stopped her movements altogether- as if time had froze.

_So that's what you wanted. I thought you were different, but you were just like every fucking one else I met. You just wanted to use me. You want me to die? Fine! I'll do it- I'll die. Just for you. I hope you're happy. _

It was coming back. Maka didn't know exactly what it was, but it was coming back. It scared her. It scared her terribly.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Did you see that Black Star all over the new assistant, Tsubaki?" A pink haired girl whispered to her friend through the small spaces between the bathroom stalls.

"Yeah," the friend replied back, flushing the toilet and walking out of the stall. She took out a toothbrush and started brushing her teeth. "What was up with that?"

"Black Star's a sly one," the short, pink haired girl coyly smiled, watching her friend gargle and rinse.

"You have to get into the habit of explaining yourself, Kim."

"What I mean, Jackie, is that Black Star's smarter than he lets on. Can't you see his plan? He's just pretending to be infatuated with her to get closer to her, and when he has her heart, he's planning to use her as a way to escape from this hellhole." Kim explained, watching the ebony haired girl's face scrunch up in horror in sadistic pleasure.

"That sounds _way _too complicated to be a plan of Black Star's!" Jackie protested.

"Oh, my poor Jacqueline. My poor, poor, naive sweet innocent little Jacqueline," Kim sighed, shaking her head in sympathy. "You wouldn't survive a day in this place without me. I always knew Black Star was a clever one, but I myself was shocked this time at his elaborate plan. It's hard to believe, but it's the truth."

"But how do you know that?"

"I have really good instincts," Kim replied simply, jangling the bracelets on her wrists. "Also, I overheard him talking to Kilik about it."

"No way!" Jackie cried in disbelief. She packed up her toothbrush and toothpaste and walked out the bathroom door, with Kim following after her. "I can't believe it! To think that Black Star would formulate something so complicated! He always seemed so..._dumb_."

"Yeah, me too," Kim admitted, quickening her pace. They had sneaked out of their dorms, and they were going to be in big trouble had they been caught roaming around in the hallways that late. "I'm telling you, you never know with these people. Black Star has been here for three whole years, you know. I'm sure he would do anything to get out, he-"

Kim never finished her sentence, as she bumped smack into an extremely aggravated boy with spiky white hair and fell down on her bottom.

"Ow!" Kim cried, rubbing her head where it had collided with the boy in front of her. "Watch where you're going!"

"Fuck off!" Soul growled, wiping the dust off his pants. "Don't fucking order me around- you watch where _you're_ going!"

"_Excuse _me?"

"You're not excused, move the fuck out of my way," Soul cut her off, pushing her to the side. He disregarded her flabbergasted expression and continued walking away.

He resumed his thoughts where they had left off before he bumped into the rude pink haired girl.

He knew he fucked up. It was a mean thing to say and he knew it. It was already midnight, and he realized that Maka wasn't going to come back. He had to go find her- but where? Where would she be? He had stormed out of the meeting room like the stupid, spontaneous idiot he was, and now she was gone. She was bound to-

"You're Soul Eater Evans, aren't you?" A voice called out to him from behind. He ignored it and continued to walk down, when he heard the same voice sneer, "The boy who talks to himself."

Soul instantly turned around the stormed back at the two girls, one of them looking terrified and the other looking rather amused.

"And who are you two?" Soul grinned dangerously, showing his jagged teeth. "No, wait. Let me figure this one out by myself. I smell toothpaste, so I assume the black haired stick went to go throw up her food before it digest. So I'll call you stick girl," Soul said, as he flashed his ruby eyes from Jackie to Kim. The hallway was dimly lit, but Kim could still see his dark red eyes on her and she felt a pleasurable chill up her spine. "And you? I heard bracelets jingling, lots of them. I would assume since it's midnight and you should be sleeping, you would take them off but you didn't. So I can safely say you're the emo cutting type which finds her only joy in life being a masochist. Exciting! I'll call you emo girl. _So _glad to meet the two of you. I would love to stop and chit-chat, but I must get going and do something productive with my life. Goodbye."

Jackie and Kim watched in silence as they the silhouette of the mysterious white-haired boy named Soul who talked to himself grew smaller and smaller. Both of their hearts thumped loudly, one from nervous exhilaration and one from a completely different reason altogether.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"_Maka_." Soul sighed in relief, hesitating if he should move closer to her or not.

"I liked flowers."

"...What?" Soul asked, unsure if he heard her correctly.

"I liked flowers," Maka repeated, not bothering to look up at him. She was scrunched up in a ball, her head resting on her knees that were wrapped around in her arms.

"Maka, look," Soul started, moving closer up to her. It was dark outside, and the moon was the only light that was able to guide him through the school's barren garden. "I'm sorry about what I said today, I didn't mean it. I-I-"

"Roses. I always liked roses. They were such a brilliant shade of red. He gave them to me, and it would make my heart flutter. I wonder why I never noticed that the thorns on the stems were hurting me?"

"...He?" Soul asked, raising his eyebrows at her numb expression. "Did you remember something, Maka?"

"I'm sorry too, Soul." Maka blankly apologized, choosing to ignore his words. "I guess I was a bit jealous. You are alive, after all. I guess I just wanted the attention. You, without even having to ask or work for it, get so much attention...and I know you hate all the attention, especially under these circumstances, but you don't know how _empty_ it feels to not receive it. I feel so...I feel so _dead_."

"Maka, what's wrong?" Soul asked, sitting down on the cold, cracked soil with her.

Maka remained silent.

"Maka..."

"I'm scared," Maka quietly admitted, tightly closing her eyes shut. "I keep hearing these voices in my head, and it scares me. Bits and pieces of such nostalgic, familiar dialogue has been floating around in my head for the past week and I can't make sense of any of it. All I know that it's unpleasant and I can't remember anyone but see faded, blurry scenes of what I'm guessing is my past. I want so desperately to cry, but I can't even do something as simple as that. It _hurts_. I thought about what you said and...and what if I really lived a shitty life? What if I remember who I was and I hate myself? What if I was someone I didn't want to be, or-or someone everyone hated? What will I do then? Will Black Star still accept me as a friend? Would _you_?"

Soul looked up at the silky, dark night sky and let what she had just said sink in.

"Maka," he lightly whispered back to her. "I didn't mean it when I said you probably had a shitty life- I have anger management issues, and I say stupid shit without thinking when I get mad. A bubbly girl like you probably had an amazing life and even if you didn't, so what? You're not really dead, Maka...you're still here. Can't you see that? _You're still here._ You can still have an amazing life now- you and I can both start over."

"Start over?" Maka asked, finally turning her head to look at him face-to-face.

"Yeah, let's start over," Soul offered, holding his hand out. "I'll protect you from the bad or scary memories you aren't ready to handle yet, even if it means not sleeping at night. I'll constantly keep you occupied, so from now on, why don't we live life to the fullest? Let's do things that others deem are impossible and laugh at stupid inside jokes that only we would know about and dye our hair crazy colors or other stupid shit 'normal' teenagers do and then, only when you're ready, let's try to get all your memories back."

Maka smiled sadly, looking longingly at the hand he held out for her to hold. "It doesn't really work that way Soul...these thoughts are close to impossible to get rid of...anything little thing can trigger my memories and..."

"But we can try, right?"

"I...I-"

"We can try, right?"

Maka glanced briefly at Soul's face and saw him smiling genuinely at her, his red eyes warming her up like a blazing summer sun. It was something else, this feeling of hers was. She looked at his hand, that was still outstretched for her to take, and she slowly put her transparent hand on top of his.

"Yeah, we can try."

* * *

**A/N: Eh, when do things ever go the way it was planned? :P Now before you go on about Black Star...don't ever trust gossip. Just. Don't. Ever. Lmfao. **

**It's been so long! I'm sorry, I haven't been doing so well these past few weeks- not a physical kind of pain, but more of a emotional/mental pain. But I don't really want to get into that. Instead, I promise I will try to update sooner! Also, my prom's in a few days so...eep! xD **

**I did not edit this. I know, I really should. But also, I took forever in writing this and I didn't want to take another forever in editing it. So...I'll edit it eventually! Excuse the mistakes. D: **

**Reviews would be nice. :3 vvv**


	5. Bliss

**A/N: I graduated yesterday! Does that mean anything to anyone? Lol. I know, I know, this chapter took forever. But I was really, really busy! Please understand. xO**

**Dedicated to: **macchi-chan, Luminous Snow, crazychick1313, Winrie McGeeky, Miyaow, Mouers, soundofsoul42, MakaEvans95, Lacie's Tune, Dennou Writer, RhythmWeaver, AliceUnknown, aviechan, scaryneko, watevs1404, Techno Skittles, CookieTheif, shanagi95, Resident-chick, aej1085, DarkBlueEyedWolf, GrossGirl18, arkee, Paper Flight, ParadiseAvenger

* * *

**Chapter 5:** Bliss

The bar was hazy and had a somewhat musky odor. The raven haired boy, however, seemed completely oblivious to the stench and sat down on one of the many wooden stools.

"Here again?" The bartender asked, wondering if he might actually get a proper answer this time. "You can't keep doing this to yourself, Kid."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want to do," said boy snarled back, his split bangs positioned so that they covered almost half his face.

"It's not safe," the bartender shook his head, as he wiped a shot glass. "You'll kill yourself."

Kid snorted in response, grinning manically at the older man in front of him.

Had this been the first time the bartender met Kid, he would have probably tried his best to avoid this strange boy and his golden eyes that gleamed with danger. However, he was a close and old friend of Kid's, and he knew Kid back when those dangerous eyes of his were warm and affectionate.

The bartender slammed the glass in his hand down, and looked directly into Kid's sarcastic eyes. "I mean it Kid, I'm being dead serious. You have to let go of your past- you killing yourself won't bring _her_ back."

Kid froze, his clear yellow eyes diluting to the subtle mention of the person who created and shaped up all his past memories.

_It won't bring her back, but it will take me to wherever she is. _

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Maka." Soul frowned, trying his best not to sound like how he was feeling- irritated.

"Yes?" Maka grinned, trailing after him.

"When I said that we should live life to the fullest," Soul grunted, struggling to hold up the heavy box filled with gardening supplies. "I did _not _mean planting some flowers in the garden of a mental institute."

"But the garden was so bare!" Maka protested, quickly catching up to him. "I mean, when you sat down, didn't it feel so sad and lonely? The ground was all cold and hard, the situation's too sad!"

"...Maka, it's a _garden_." Soul sighed, wondering why he even bothered to argue with someone who personified specific settings. "Besides, I'm pretty sure there's a reason why the school decided not to grow any plants...it just, just possibly- I mean this is a total and complete wild guess- but it might just possibly have to do with the fact that it's Nevada and we're in the middle of a freaking _desert_ here. Oh, oh! Or it might have to do with the fact that it's _winter _right now and plants rarely survive in the winter."

"...Soul, you're such a...such a _debbie downer_." Maka shook her head in disdain, taking his indignant stare with neutrality. "You give up before you even start, you should try to not make that a habit."

"What are you, my mom?"

"If that's what you want," Maka shrugged, taking in his insults fairly well. "Although, if I was actually your mom, you wouldn't be so _weak_."

Soul stopped dead in his tracks.

"_What_?" Soul sputtered, turning back to meet Maka's cocky grin.

"You think I can't see you struggling to hold that little cardboard box?" Maka's grin grew wider in proportion to Soul's open mouth. "Come on Soul, put some muscle into it! How can you not hold something as light as_ that_?"

"D-Do you have any idea know how heavy this shit actually is? !" Soul stammered, a reddish hue rapidly spreading across his face. "B-Besides, I wasn't _struggling_."

"Oh okay," Maka snickered, the grin on her face not disappearing.

"Whatever, screw you and screw this whole idea." Soul crisply said, setting the box down in the middle of the hallway. "I'm leaving."

"No, no wait!" Maka protested half-heartedly, too humored by how sensitive Soul was acting. "No wait, you're strong! You're really the strongest guy I've-"

_No, you're strong! You're really the strongest guy I've ever met! You saved my life...thank you so much! _

Soul stopped walking away at Maka's silence and instead glanced back to see a blank expression on Maka's face.

"Sheesh, can't even tell a little lie for me?" Soul tried to brighten the suddenly dark atmosphere, afraid to know the real reason for her silence.

She didn't respond, but the expressions on her face twisted from confusion to fear.

_Oh, my name is Maka...Maka Albarn! What's your name? Since you're around the same age as me, we should be friends!_

"Black..." Maka whispered, rapidly darting her eyes to various angles of the hallway. "His hair was so dark, like his personality...but his eyes were warm. His eyes were so, _so _warm."

"Maka, what are you saying?" Soul asked, walking closer to her. All he could hear was her mumbling various words to herself. She didn't respond. "Maka? Earth to Maka!..._Maka_!"

"What? Huh?" Maka jumped in surprise, finally taking notice of her surroundings.

"Are you all right?" Soul tried his best to hide the concern coating his voice.

"Y-Yeah," Maka smiled, avoiding his eyes. "Sorry, I kind of blanked out."

"Did you remember something?" Soul bluntly asked, jamming his hands inside his jeans. He mentally slapped himself for unintentionally triggering yet another unwanted memory.

"W-Well...there was this boy-"

"Hey, boy who talks to himself!" A voice called from behind, interrupting Maka's revelation.

Maka turned around, surprised to see a cute girl their age with short hair smiling at Soul.

"Friend?" Maka wondered out-loud with big eyes.

"I wish." Soul groaned, shaking his head in misery. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," the girl shrugged. "But what were you saying before? You wish? You wish what?" She stood in front of Soul expectantly, completely oblivious to the Maka standing right in-between the two of them.

"Leave me alone," Soul tried to push her away.

"But Soul!" She whined, putting her hands on her hips. "I have something to say to you! About yesterday, the things you said to me..."

"Hey." Maka instantly caught Soul's attention. "I feel like this is really private, I don't want to really eavesdrop or butt in...I'll go back to your room and we'll talk when you come back, all right?"

"No wai-" Soul started, before he noticed the confused stare on Kim's face. He shut up.

"Are you talking to me, or...?" The pink haired girl asked, as she followed Soul's eyes to her back. "What are you looking at?" She inquired, but that question and all of her other ones went in vain as all Soul could think about was the boy that Maka began to mention.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"M-Maka!"

Maka turned around to see herself face to face with a pleasant face.

"Hey! Tsubaki, right?" Maka asked, although she already knew that was the black haired girl's unique name.

"Yes! You remembered!" Tsubaki excitedly replied, staring at Maka fondly. "I wanted to ask you a few questions for a while now!"

"Oh?" Maka's face scrunched up in puzzlement. "So why didn't you?"

"Because you were always with that Soul guy!" Tsubaki instantly answered. "But now you're finally by yourself! Come, come with me!"

"A-All right?" Maka agreed, walking towards Tsubaki, who was prancing up and down the hallway in joy.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Ugh..." Soul groaned, pushing the key into the lock of the door. "She's so goddamn _annoying_! Maka, do you-" Soul froze in the midway of his sentence when he realized that the room was completely empty.

"...Maka?" He called out, only to hear his own voice echoing back at him. His burgundy eyes analyzed the room carefully, wondering if she might be hiding somewhere. She did say she was going to meet him here, right?

He barged into Black Star's room without even so much a knock, knowing very well that if the blue haired boy was there, he would do more than just yell a few curses at his face. Soul walked around his dorm room a few times searching for Maka, yet not a single trace of the blonde was found.

_Maybe she left him? _Maybe the boy she was talking about was the key to her memories, and now that she remembered him, she remembered everything and decided to leave Soul.

Soul's palms began to sweat, as he juggled around with various negative thoughts in his head. Why else would she not be here? It's not as if she had somewhere she had to go...Soul sighed and shook his head in annoyance. Why should he even care? She was more of a burden than a "friend" anyways. If anything, it was a good thing she left.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"So you wanted to ask me something?" Maka asked Tsubaki, as the blonde walked around Tsubaki's room. It had a nice interior design, unlike Soul and Black Star's barren room.

"Y-yeah," Tsubaki nervously replied. "I hope it's okay..."

"Of course it is," Maka smiled, delicately outlining a picture frame hung up on the wall with her fingers.

"Well, first off, how do you like it here? This institute? Isn't Soul hard to handle?"

Maka smiled warmly at the mention of her white haired friend. "He's stubborn, he's sarcastic, he's too prideful, and he's annoying as hell, but I like hanging around him. I really like his company." Then Maka scrunched up her face, as if she was reacting from eating something extremely sour.

"What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked in concern.

"Well, you would expect Soul to be extremely anti-social and stuff, right?" Maka asked, to which Tsubaki replied by nodding her head. "But then I found out today that he made a friend without me knowing about it! The most shocking part was that she was a _girl_! It was weird! I was a bit taken aback..."

"Oh..." Tsubaki placed her hands on her chin, thinking about the situation over. "I certainly didn't see that coming..." Tsubaki looked up to see Maka's displeased face and jumped up. "Wait! Maka!"

"W-What?"

"Do you..." Tsubaki grinned and her dark blue eyes lit up. "Do you feel angry when you see Soul with another girl? Annoyed or aggravated? Do you feel a ball of angry feelings bubbling deep down inside the pit of your stomach, and do you just get the urge to punch the other girl in the face? Do you? Do you? _Do you_?"

"Uh..." Maka raised her eyebrows at Tsubaki's sudden enlightened face. "...No. Not at all. I was just a bit taken aback, but I'm relieved if anything. He finally made a friend!"

"...Oh." Tsubaki flatly replied, her excitement immediately washed away by Maka's honest answer. "Anyways...moving on..."

"Yeah?"

"I know this may seem rude..." Tsubaki hesitated to continue, only finishing what she wanted to say when she saw Maka's reassuring smile. "How are you still in this world? You're...you're dead, right? So...how? How did you manage to stay here?"

Maka lowered her eyes and softly answered, "I don't know. I just don't know...I don't even know who I am or who I was...or how I even got here..."

Tsubaki started playing with her fingers, a habit of hers when she was nervous. "I-I'm sorry if you were offended or that made you sad Maka, I-"

"N-No, it's fine!" Maka forced a smile, putting her hands behind her back. "I prefer it this way! It's like a new beginning!"

"I guess that's true!" Tsubaki smiled the best she could back at Maka. "But...but how about all those people from your previous life? Are you fine with forgetting them too?"

Maka stood stunned for a few seconds, as the blurry silhouette of a boy flashed across her eyes. Tsubaki gave her a questioning stare at her silence, to which Maka reluctantly replied, "Y-Yeah. Ignorance is bliss, right? What if my past memories are hurtful? I'd rather not know and be happy than know and be upset...so it's fine!"

Tsubaki bought the carefully framed answer, but Maka herself wasn't sure if she believed those words as they escaped her lips.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Soul?" Maka asked, waving her hand over Soul's closed eyes. "Are you awake?" When he didn't respond, Maka sighed and plotted herself down next to his bed on the floor.

"You know," Maka said out-loud, not talking to anyone in particular. "I went to talk to Tsubaki today. I was going to come tell you that I was going to come back here late, but I figured you might take a long time to talk with that pink haired girl so I didn't bother..." Maka glanced upwards at the bed. No response.

She continued talking, finding it much easier to talk to Soul when he was asleep than when he was awake.

"We talked about a lot of things, none of which were really that important...until then we came to talk about my past. I...I saw this blurred up image of a guy today. I don't know who he is or where he's from or even how he looks like, but I know he was important to me..._really_ important. Tsubaki asked me if I was fine with not remembering the important people in my old life, and I immediately thought about the talk we had at the garden. You know, about starting over and stuff. I told her that I wouldn't mind, that I was fine, but I don't know...I...I feel so _empty_ inside. I want to remember my old self as much as I _don't _want to remember my old self...does that even make sense? What should I do?"

"...I thought you left me." Soul slowly said, causing Maka to jump up in surprise. His back was turned, and his head was facing the opposite direction of where she sat.

"Y-You were awake?" Maka's eyes grew wide, immediately regretting she had said so much to him.

"I thought you were gone forever." Soul repeated the same message with different words.

"N-No, I was talking with Tsubaki," Maka said, still embarrassed that Soul had heard everything.

"You should've told me...I was worried," Soul told her, whispering the second part so she could barely hear him.

"Worried?" Maka asked, not sure if she was more shocked or pleased that he could spare such feelings for her.

"Whatever," Soul mumbled into his pillow, closing his eyes shut.

Maka smiled broadly at Soul's turned back and softly said, "Remember how you said you'll protect me yesterday? Well I'll protect you too- so don't worry about me leaving. As long as you're here, I'm not going anywhere."

It was dark and his face was turned so that Maka was not able to see, but Soul genuinely smiled at Maka's words.

"Ha, protect me? You?" Soul jokingly teased. "Like I need protection from you."

"Well, seeing how you can't even hold up some garden equipment..."

"Get out of my room," Soul sat up on his bed, the grin wiped clear off his face. He pointed at the door, to which Maka responded by innocently staring up at him.

"Oh, come on Soul! You know I was just _joking_," Maka winked at him, causing Soul to blush brightly. Soul was thankful his face was concealed by the darkness, or there might have been some misunderstanding. His face was red because he was_ hot_. Yes, _hot._

"Whatever Maka! Just go away, I need to go to sleep."

"So we plant the seeds tomorrow then?" Maka attempted to prolong the conversation. She didn't want him to fall asleep, as she would be all alone in the silent dark if he did.

"I already planted them." Soul yawned, trying to act as casual as possible.

"R-Really? !" Maka exclaimed, not believing Soul the sarcastic debbie downer would do such a thing on his own.

"Eh, there was nothing fun on television and you were gone to who knows where, so I figured I might as well-"

"Soul, you're so awesome! Thank you!" Maka happily interrupted him, as she jumped on top of his bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her transparent arms went through his neck, but Soul still felt an electrifying spark run through the course of his body by the empty touch.

The black haired boy's blurred image once again passed through Maka's head, but she ignored it this time. She was hesitant at first, but if ignorance gave her this level of happiness, then she would gladly stick with it.

Meanwhile, Soul decided that if there was a tiny, microscopic chance that someone barged in, turned on the lights and saw Soul's burning red face, his excuse would be that the air-conditioning was broken and it was fucking hot as hell in there.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry for the late update. To be perfectly honest, yes I was a BIT lazy. Buttttt I was also really, really busy. Some days I would come home at midnight, I'm not even joking. I'll update regularly again now that school is over, so I'm really sorry for taking forever to update during the past few weeks! **

**Reviews would be the sweetest thing ever. :'O **


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